Discuss the future (technology/economy/politics/whatever)

[Polska]

With the advent of Google Chrome OS (Watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QRO3gKj3qw)...

This is where the entire direction of personal computing is going......

Stateless computers that store everything "in the cloud".

Hard drives will be obsolete as internet connection speeds will rival even the fastest drives. You will store and access everything entirely online.

This will be the STANDARD 10-15 years from now.

Maybe sooner.

Its at this point that google will take over Microsoft's market share as an OS developer.

Better invest in some google stock now boys.

[Polska]

With this technology privacy comes into question: Private files can be encrypted with very strong encryption that would only be accessible/readable on your device(s). HOWEVER I think privacy will still be questionable. The government will always have tricks up their sleeve. If they want to access your data they will. The more advanced technology gets the more control the government has over its citizens.

Ultimately the future will be a very hard world for a criminal to live in. Living entirely off the grid will be the only way to remain undetectable and this would be very hard as physical cash will be abolished and replaced with electronic currency. Something like your thumb print will access your selected source of funds and pay for everything. No need for cash / plastic/ etc.

[Polska]

Cars that drive themselves will be standard. This is being worked on right now and will be adapted as a standard feature on vehicles within 10 years. You will simply enter your destination coordinates into a GPS device and relax. These cars will be equipped with navigation and collision detection superior to a human's and will be essentially fail-safe; The system will alert you the moment any of its systems malfunction. This will bring traffic accidents down considerably.

Also in our lifetime... The ability to grow human tissue for transplant identical to your own DNA will mean incredible advances in health care and medicine.

In around 20 years (2029) 'the singularity' will occur. Which means the power of computers will surpass the power of our own brains. Mathematically this is a certainty. At this point we will be able to fully decode every neuron in our brains and understand them entirely... meaning that we will be able to download our thoughts/memories/dreams onto a computer and view them. This also opens the door to connecting our brain to a machine (not unlike the matrix) and experiencing virtual reality that is indistinguishable from the real world.

I believe this will happen in my life time.

[Friend]

I hope i'm dead and buried long before i need to scan my thumb print to pay for something.

[Polska]

In around 20 years (2029) 'the singularity' will occur. Which means the power of computers will surpass the power of our own brains. Mathematically this is a certainty. At this point we will be able to fully decode every neuron in our brains and understand them entirely... meaning that we will be able to download our thoughts/memories/dreams onto a computer and view them. This also opens the door to connecting our brain to a machine (not unlike the matrix) and experiencing virtual reality that is indistinguishable from the real world.

The pervert in me would like to add that you will be able to have virtual sex in your mind with any model you may choose. This will replace internet pornography as you will literally be able to put yourself in any scene with anyone. Illegal hacks will come out, I am sure, which will allow you to have sex with say, britney spears in her prime, the latest hottest celebrities, etc.

[Kibble]

Darwins Theory. Brothers just eat and get strong now. Work on your 'street smarts'. One day technology will fail, and we will be left to our basic instincts for survival. Survival of the Fittest. Natural selection. Some time in the future we will be back at day 1. Flint knives and herding game for dinner. Get strong now, so that you are not some 120lb computer geek when that time comes

[Polska]

Darwins Theory. Brothers just eat and get strong now. Work on your 'street smarts'. One day technology will fail, and we will be left to our basic instincts for survival. Survival of the Fittest. Natural selection. Some time in the future we will be back at day 1. Flint knives and herding game for dinner. Get strong now, so that you are not some 120lb computer geek when that time comes

Bro I don't disagree that that time will come - but it will not be in our life time - and it will not be due to technology failing us... it will be due to us destroying ourselves. Wars will prevail until the end of time. Technology may be involved; ie, they create a dooms day machine that is meant to destroy an entire country in one detonation and it destroys the earth.... oops...

[Friend]

Things to look forward to

[Kibble]

Bro I don't disagree that that time will come - but it will not be in our life time - and it will not be due to technology failing us... it will be due to us destroying ourselves. Wars will prevail until the end of time. Technology may be involved; ie, they create a dooms day machine that is meant to destroy an entire country in one detonation and it destroys the earth.... oops...

Might not be in our lifetime... but now would be the right time to build a solid 'bloodline'.

[DSM4Life]

lcd is better